Covid 19 coronavirus: Fiji records 684 new community cases, five more deaths

Fijian health workers take a Covid swab. Photo / Fiji Government, Facebook

By RNZ

Fiji has reported 684 new cases of Covid-19 for the last 24 hours to 8am on Saturday.

The Government also confirmed five more deaths from July 19-23.

That compares to 468 cases and 11 deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said 12 other Covid-positive people had died, but their deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions.

Fong said all the victims were unvaccinated against Covid-19.

• A 73-year-old woman from Namoli Village in Lautoka presented to the Lautoka Hospital Emergency Department in severe respiratory distress on July 19. Her condition worsened at the hospital and she died on the same day.
• A 96-year-old woman from Nadera in Nasinu died at home on July 22.
• A 67-year-old woman from Suva died at home on July 22.
• A 57-year-old woman from Nasinu presented to a health facility in severe respiratory distress on July23. Her condition worsened at the health centre and she died on the same day.
• A 57-year-old man from Nasinu died at home on July 23.

A drive-through Covid vaccination centre in Suva. Photo / Fiji Government, Facebook

Fong said 177 people have died from the coronavirus in Fiji since March 2020.

"We also have recorded 87 Covid-positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted the virus; their deaths are not classified as due to Covid-19.

"There have been 165 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 16,563 active cases.

"There have been 22,443 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021. We have recorded a total of 22,513 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 5686 recoveries."

24.4% of tests positive

A total of 5726 individuals were screened and 1656 swabbed at stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, Fong said.

"This brings our cumulative total to 354,948 individuals screened and 65,606 swabbed to date".

"Our mobile screening teams screened a total of 4320 individuals and swabbed 638 in the last 24 hours.

"This brings our cumulative total to 739,036 individuals screened and 65,450 swabbed by our mobile teams to date."

Fong said a total of 247,846 samples have been tested since April this year, with 290,707 tested since March 2020.

He said 3694 tests had been reported for July 22.

"The national seven-day daily test average is 3841 tests per day or 4.3 tests per 1000 population.

"The national seven-day average daily test positivity is 24.4 per cent."

The World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold is 5 per cent.

As of July 23, 438,535 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 95,173 have received their second doses, Fong said.

This means that 74.8 per cent of the target population have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 16.2 per cent are now fully vaccinated nationwide.

Fong said the seven-day average of new cases per day is 863.

- RNZ